[Should cases of hepatocellular carcinoma be discussed by non-specialized multidisciplinary team meetings?]

The treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is difficult due to the underlying cirrhosis which has its own influence on therapeutic issues. An inquiry was performed in centres with specialized multidisciplinary team meetings dedicated to HCC (HCC-MTM) or in centres with non-specialized (digestive oncology or general oncology) multidisciplinary team meetings (NS-MTM). The number of cases of HCCs taken in charge yearly was significantly higher in HCC-MTM than in NS-MTM (p=0,0014). Interventional radiologists and transplant surgeons were more frequently implied in HCC-MTM than in NS-MTM (respectively p=0,009 and p=0,02). On site availability of every treatment of HCC was higher in RCP-MTM than in NS-MTM (p=0,015). There were no inclusion in clinical trials in 40.5 % of NS-MTM versus only 17.6 % of HCC-MTM (p=0,0086). In three clinical cases out of seven there were discrepancies between the therapeutic options of HCC-MTM and NS-MTM. In all three cases, the treatment offered to the patient by HCC-MTM was more consistent with clinical standards. These results prompt to perform more studies on the quality of management of patients with HCCs by MTMs.